In any given public school classroom; all who reside for the duration of the school day are exposed to all that students (and teachers) bring into the classroom from their home environments.  As they travel to special classes of gym, music, library, or art; they carry the germs with them.  During cold and flu season, we provide more tissue boxes and full bottles of soap at the sink.  But first graders in my classroom needed to be taught often about the hygiene of washing hands after tending to their runny noses. Some had to be taught how to wash their hands!  One of my students, for example, didn’t know that when soap is applied and hands are scrubbed together, bubbles form!  That instance taught me not to assume that common hygiene skills are learned at home.  I sent that student home with his own bottle of soap.  He was elated and excited to show his younger siblings!

Along with the writing, reading, phonics, and math; we taught the science of what a good cleansing does for our health!  First graders respond when you show them all the germs under a blue light that exposes what a careless washing of hands can miss!  Yes, I did that and it was effective!  A good cleansing removes all that can possibly make you sick later. 

God teaches the Israelites how to cleanse His people of diseases brought into the camp.  The regulations provide ways to prevent future outbreaks among the thousands who live and journey together on their wilderness trek with God in the lead to the promised land. As always, God is in the details!

Leviticus 14

Cleansing From Defiling Skin Diseases

The Lord said to Moses, ² “These are the regulations for any diseased person at the time of their ceremonial cleansing, when they are brought to the priest: ³ The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them. If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease, ⁴ the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the person to be cleansed. ⁵ Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot. ⁶ He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. ⁷ Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them clean. After that, he is to release the live bird in the open fields.

⁸ “The person to be cleansed must wash their clothes, shave off all their hair and bathe with water; then they will be ceremonially clean. After this they may come into the camp, but they must stay outside their tent for seven days. ⁹ On the seventh day they must shave off all their hair; they must shave their head, their beard, their eyebrows and the rest of their hair. They must wash their clothes and bathe themselves with water, and they will be clean.

¹⁰ “On the eighth day they must bring two male lambs and one ewe lamb a year old, each without defect, along with three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, and one log of oil. ¹¹ The priest who pronounces them clean shall present both the one to be cleansed and their offerings before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

¹² “Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering, along with the log of oil; he shall wave them before the Lord as a wave offering. ¹³ He is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area where the sin offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy. ¹⁴ The priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. ¹⁵ The priest shall then take some of the log of oil, pour it in the palm of his own left hand, ¹⁶ dip his right forefinger into the oil in his palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of it before the Lord seven times. ¹⁷ The priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. ¹⁸ The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed and make atonement for them before the Lord.

¹⁹ “Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from their uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering ²⁰ and offer it on the altar, together with the grain offering, and make atonement for them, and they will be clean.

²¹ “If, however, they are poor and cannot afford these, they must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for them, together with a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of oil, ²² and two doves or two young pigeons, such as they can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.

²³ “On the eighth day they must bring them for their cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. ²⁴ The priest is to take the lamb for the guilt offering, together with the log of oil, and wave them before the Lord as a wave offering. ²⁵ He shall slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. ²⁶ The priest is to pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, ²⁷ and with his right forefinger sprinkle some of the oil from his palm seven times before the Lord. ²⁸ Some of the oil in his palm he is to put on the same places he put the blood of the guilt offering—on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. ²⁹ The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for them before the Lord. ³⁰ Then he shall sacrifice the doves or the young pigeons, such as the person can afford, ³¹ one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one to be cleansed.”

³² These are the regulations for anyone who has a defiling skin disease and who cannot afford the regular offerings for their cleansing.

Cleansing From Defiling Molds

³³ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ³⁴ “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mold in a house in that land, ³⁵ the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a defiling mold in my house.’ ³⁶ The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mold, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house. ³⁷ He is to examine the mold on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, ³⁸ the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days. ³⁹ On the seventh day the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mold has spread on the walls, ⁴⁰ he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. ⁴¹ He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town. ⁴² Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.

⁴³ “If the defiling mold reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, ⁴⁴ the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mold has spread in the house, it is a persistent defiling mold; the house is unclean. ⁴⁵ It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.

⁴⁶ “Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening. ⁴⁷ Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash their clothes.

⁴⁸ “But if the priest comes to examine it and the mold has not spread after the house has been plastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the defiling mold is gone. ⁴⁹ To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. ⁵⁰ He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. ⁵¹ Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² He shall purify the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. ⁵³ Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”

⁵⁴ These are the regulations for any defiling skin disease, for a sore, ⁵⁵ for defiling molds in fabric or in a house, ⁵⁶ and for a swelling, a rash or a shiny spot, ⁵⁷ to determine when something is clean or unclean.

These are the regulations for defiling skin diseases and defiling molds.

**The Hebrew word for defiling skin disease, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

If it seems overkill to rid the camp of disease by shaving all the hair from their bodies, both male and female, then you have never experienced a lice epidemic among students.  Lice are tiny insects who spread like wildfire and jump from student to student. Lice embedded themselves at the nap of the neck and hide in hair.

Only the purchase of special prescribed solutions from the local pharmacy can be used at home to wash everything that the student has come in contact with so the lice can be eradicated from their home.  The student’s hair is washed several times until they are declared “clean” from the invasion of lice!  Long ago, many parents would shave their heads, as recommended by some doctors, if shampooing was not cleansing enough! When all cleansing procedures were completed; the school nurse had the final say regarding reentry into the classroom!  So, we get it!

A complete cleansing takes effort but is good for the overall health of God’s beloved.

Failure to obey these regulations was considered sin. While following God’s laws did provide good hygienic results, they also separated the pure and clean from the impure and unclean. Israel was to be distinct from the pagan nations surrounding them. Obedience to God shows our desire to be holy before a Holy God!

Although it was discouraging to read chapter 13, with its emphasis on uncleanness and isolation. But chapter 14 brings us that ray of hope that we need: A person with a skin disease can be cleansed and restored!

Sometimes we need the bad news of judgment before we can appreciate the good news of salvation!  Warren Wiersbe paints a beautiful picture of salvation from the sickness of sin;

“The steps in the person’s cleansing and restoration picture to us what Jesus Christ has done for sinners. The priest goes to the sufferer. Since the unclean person wasn’t permitted to enter the camp, the priest had to go outside the camp to minister to him or her. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). When He ministered here on earth, Jesus was called “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34); He compared Himself to a doctor helping his needy patients (Matthew 9:10–13). As God’s Great Physician, Jesus makes “house calls” and comes to sinners right where they are. In the case of the Hebrew person with a skin disease, the priest went out to investigate and determine if indeed the victim was healed, but Jesus comes to us that He might heal us of the sickness of sin.”—Wiersbe Study Bible

Consider the significance of the offerings:

• The sin offering shows Christ atoning for a person’s sin.
• The trespass offering reminds us that Christ paid the debt we owed to God because, like the diseased person, we were unable to serve Him during our days of uncleanness.
• In the burnt offering, the man dedicated himself completely to God, and the grain offering displayed the perfections of Christ accepted for the imperfections of the worshiper.

Wiersbe notes that the priest ceremonially treated the now cleansed like a fellow priest!  The priest put the blood of the trespass offering on the man’s right ear, right thumb, and right big toe. He sprinkled oil on the man seven times and then put the oil on the blood that was already on his ear, thumb, and toe. After that, he poured the oil on the man’s head. These are the same details given to Moses to be used when he ordained Aaron and his sons!  What grace, that God should treat a former unclean person like a priest! Six times in this section the Lord declares that the priest “purified” the man, which means that his sins were forgiven.

But then again, isn’t that who God is? –Full of grace, abounding in mercy with unending love for all people who come to Him, seeking to be well from the sickness of our sins?  The answer is yes, and amen!

I am reminded of an old hymn of my childhood that I now recall and fully understand—

Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless?
Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

After our own cleansing; we become “joint heirs” with Jesus, members of his royal priesthood, with a mission.  Go to where the sick in sin people are and teach them how too be cleansed by Jesus!  Then baptism them as a public profession of their cleansing by the blood of the Lamb!

Lord,

I love how you guide our thoughts and lead us to connect the dots of your love, mercy, and grace from Genesis to Revelation!  I’m yours and I’m listening!

In Jesus Name, Amen